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Comment by mrtksn | Hacker News Reader

>This all seems overly selective - it's ok for some people to profile but not for others

What's the issue here? Selective information distribution is rooted in the society, people are O.K. with some information to be known to some people while kept secret from others due to implication differences.

I.E. I'm fine to be profiled for selling me chocolates but I'm not O.K. to be profiled to be manipulated to select public officials or to make my mind about controversial topics like the god, abortions, guns etc. I expect to be exposed in a proper way to these topics, i.e. proper journalism and discussions.

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Sadly, the downside of the consumer data culture in which we live is that you don’t really get to make that call. It seems like data is really an all or nothing game at this point, regardless of how society feels about it. Not sure how to change that, either, and I don’t personally think legislation is the answer.

It’s really easy: you pass laws.

Look at health records. HIPAA is rather successful at keeping your health data narrowly confined to those that need it. There is nothing that prevents similar laws to work for financial data, location data, etc.

The only roadblock is people saying they “don’t personally think legislation is the answer”. Because there is literally nothing but law that can have an effect.

Good law is hard. HIPPA prevents gossip. That’s about it.

The sales director for a drug manufacturer knows that you’ve filled a prescription before the claim is filed.

Enfamil and Gerber knew the estimated due date of our baby — although the only interaction we had with anyone was a miscarriage at 8 weeks and a near fatal complication.

That can be regulated. That the US chooses not to do so doesn't mean it cannot be done.

See, for example, GDPR.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-targ...

Are you sure it wasnt something like this?

> HIPPA prevents gossip. That’s about it.

I agree that HIPPA is technically very weak.

But let's also agree that preventing gossip about private health info is a good thing -- a definite step in the right direction.

Laws are about building and reinforcing the culture we want to build. In that light, HIPPA is a long way from a failure: it sets the standard that "health care privacy is to be taken seriously, and as a society we believe it is important enough to legislate", if nothing else.

Sadly, the downside of the consumer data culture in which we live is that you don’t really get to make that call.

This can be changed, regardless of whether any of us is ready to throw up our hands about the whole situation as it stands.

Isn't the GDPR supposed to help with that?

I would love to see international privacy rights harmonization with GDPR the way we had the Berne Convention for copyright.

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